Sundance Film Fest to debut free, high-speed Wi-Fi

Exciting news for anyone heading to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and looking forward to the movies and events but dreading the Internet and cell-phone glitchiness the festival has also become known for. Premiering at this year’s festival: Free, reliable high-speed Wi-Fi.

To improve the overall festival experience (and encourage more people to use their media-rich app), the Sundance Film Festival is providing, for the first time, reliable, high-speed Wi-Fi access at the fest to deal with the onslaught of smart mobile devices used by film-goers and filmmakers alike. Ruckus Wireless, working in tandem with Sundance’s IT department, has created a large-scale multi-site infrastructure that will provide Wi-Fi access to 13 indoor and outdoor venues. Three levels of service will be provided; in addition to the free Wi-Fi that is available to all patrons, VIPs will be given a password to log into a channel with higher bandwidth and Sundance staffers will have their own SSID login as well.

“Other than snow storms that wreak havoc on transportation, one of the largest challenges for us historically has been how to handle 50,000 people trying to access cell networks in a small mountain town in January,” says Brooks Addicott, the Associate Director of Media Relations. “As more and more artists are using technology to interact with audiences, it is also an important to have an infrastructure that supports that interaction.”

There goes your excuse not to check in with your boss, your spouse or your mother during the festival.

Be sure to satisfy all your festival needs with the latest buzz, top stories, and celebrity interviews from Sundance Channel’s coverage of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.